Jonathan Adagogo Green: The First Nigerian Professional Photographer

 


Jonathan Adagogo Green was born in Bonny, present-day Rivers State, in 1873. He is the first professional photographer in Nigeria. 

He attended school in Lagos and Sierra Leone. He later learned and studied photography in Freetown, Sierra Leone.  

In 1891, equipped with every bit of knowledge of the art, Green set up a studio for his photographic practice in Bonny. Jonathan Green wasn't any kind of photographer. 

His catalogue of work demonstrated how organized and bold he was in highlighting the conditions at the time through the lens of the camera.

Jonathan Adagogo Green seemingly had a large plethora of interests. His catalogue had two sets of insights: the British imperialist colonial power and the exceptional beauty and uniqueness of his local culture, particularly the Ibani Ijo community. 
His photographs covered the British colonial officers, prominent Nigerian chiefs and their families, and European merchants.

As Nigeria's first photographer, Green was strategically poised to properly document the barrage of different lives that surrounded him. 

He did so judiciously with every bit of professionalism and documented his environment. 

The political, commercial/industrial, and social life never was bereft of his genre and volume of documentation. He was an icon.

Jonathan Adagogo Green died at the age of 32 in 1905. Part of his works are displayed in the British Museum, Nigeria, the USA, and the United Kingdom.


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